WHAT DOES DEDICATION MEAN
WHAT DOES COMMITMENT TO CHRIST REALLY MEAN ?
Our physical body depends upon the air around us to survive. What does your soul and spirit depend upon to survive ?
Many can’t get up out of their easy chair and come to church, yet they say they would give their lives for Christ !
ABRAHAM IS AN EXAMPLE OF TOTAL COMMITMENT. HE DIDN’T LEAVE ANYTHING BEHIND TO COME BACK TO IF THINGS DIDN’T WORK OUT WELL. HE ALWAYS FOLLOWED THROUGH. HIS LOVE WAS UNQUESTIONABLE. HE FULLY FOLLOWED THE LORD.
Genesis 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
THIS IS CONSIDERED A BAD BUSINESS DECISION BY PEOPLE TODAY. BUT IT WAS HONORED BY GOD.
1. WE NEED TO COMMIT OUR SOULS–OUR ENTIRE BEING–TO GOD.
1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
A. IT OFTEN MEANS GOING AGAINST THE FLOW AND OFFENDING MANY PEOPLE.
CALEB STOOD FAITHFUL.
Deuteronomy 1:35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD.
B. WHEN YOU DEDICATE SOMETHING TO GOD, IT COMES UNDER AUTHORITY OF THOSE CALLED BY GOD TO APPLY THEM FOR HIS GLORY.
1 Chronicles 26:28 And all that Samuel the seer, and Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had dedicated; and whosoever had dedicated any thing, it was under the hand of Shelomith, and of his brethren.
1 Chronicles 28:12 And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things:
2 Chronicles 5:1 Thus all the work that Solomon made for the house of the LORD was finished: and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated; and the silver, and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God.
Joshua 14:9 And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.
C. GOD IS ANGRY AT HALF-HEARTED PEOPLE WHO TAKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AS A COMMON THING.
1 Kings 11:5-9 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,
2. IN A PERSONAL DEDICATION, PEOPLE WERE GIVEN INTO THE HANDS OF GOD FULLY AND COMPLETELY.
A. RESTING SOLELY UPON GOD IN PERSONAL COMMITMENT.
Job 5:8 I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause:
B. THERE IS HOPE WHEN WE ARE FULLY COMMITTED TO GOD’S WORD. YOU DON’T HAVE TIME FOR GARBAGE !
1 Timothy 4:15 Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.
C. BEING FULLY COMMITTED MEANS BELIEVING ALL THAT GOD HAS SAID (NOT JUST WHAT WE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE SELECTIVELY).
Romans 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform.
D. WHAT IF YOUR LEVEL OF COMMITMENT DETERMINES GOD’S COMMITMENT TO YOU ?
Luke 16:11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
WE HAVE HELP TO MAKE OUR COMMITMENT COMPLETE AND WHOLE !
”What Does Dedication Mean ?”
A Bible Study with Dr. Ed J. MacWilliams
082315
